The New Moon Healers Project
A healer does not heal you.
A healer
is someone who
holds space for you
while you awaken
your inner healer,
so that you may heal yourself.
- Maryam Hasnaa -
These words have been vibrating within me for a few weeks. The obvious reason why these words have stuck with me is that Hasnaa has communicated so clearly that which I feel to be incredibly true as an herbalist and magickal mentor. But there is some deeper resonance that they have awoken within me. These words are speaking to the greater cultural shift away from accepting the status quo - including the belief that healing comes to us from the outside instead of within. And if the protests this past weekend was a vision of what’s to come, 2017 is the start of a new level of agitating and organizing against a US government that is straight-up dystopian. We are all being called to step into our power as healers.
The Dirty Tarot by Dori Midnight
These words are also a reminder as to why I got into herbalism in the first place. Called by the plants, I became an herbalist not to heal others but to help other realize their own healing. My work with my community is not powerful because I say “Here, drink this tea” but because I get to hold space for folks to step into their power. People stepping back into themselves and who they truly are is the transformative experience I seek to encourage with those I collaborate with during healing sessions and sacred rituals.
The New Moon Healers Project is my invitation to you to take time each month to cultivate your own healing. For when we heal ourselves we heal our community. The New Moon Healers Project serves two primary purposes. The first is to create an easy way to connect our personal practice with community practice. Why? Because even when we might be answering the same questions or considering the same words, we’ll all have different answers and insights that enrich our collective wisdom. These collective projects also help to make space for those “aha!” moments when the words of another sets off a realization within ourselves. With collective wisdom, someone else’s words help to pull together our own thoughts and needs - much like Hasnaa’s poem has done to help direct my own need to create new community connections this year.
The Dirty Tarot by Dori Midnight
The second purpose the New Moon Healers Project is to help each of us connect with a way of measuring the passage of time that is tied to something more earth-centered (perhaps galaxy-based?) than the calendar year. While days and weeks seem to whiz by and their encroachment sometimes feels anxiety-inducing, I have always looked forward to celebrating something special under the Moon. Measuring time from the seat of the sacred as opposed to the tension of deadlines or the expectations of others is itself its own form of healing.
Why the New Moon as opposed to the Full Moon or any other phase? There is a special kind of magick with each phase of the Moon. The New Moon signifies a time of new beginnings and the grand expanse of possibility. It is the bow to the arrow of our dreams. Our individual will focuses the trajectory of the arrow and I hope that the New Moon Healers Project helps you to focus on the healing that you most desire this year.
Or as a space rebel once said, "Stay on target. Stay on target!"
How the New Moon Healers Project Works
Every month I’ll publish a post on the New Moon which will feature a poem, a plant profile, a minimalist magick ritual, and an oracle question. Since you know that I love my poetry, the poem will be inspired by the zodiac sign of the New Moon. In the same vein, the plant profile will correspond with the sign of the Moon, too. The minimalist magick ritual will be a simple, no or very few tools needed, ritual of lunar celebration. Finally, the oracle will be a question or questions for you to pull cards on or use any divination system of your choosing. If you are not a diviner, you can still participate by pondering the questions as part of a meditation.
The Dirty Tarot by Dori Midnight
Participating in the New Moon Healers Project is easy. On the day of the New Moon you are encouraged to read the poem and the plant profile and to share your thoughts about the oracle question. If you want to make it extra-special get a notebook that you’ll use exclusively for the New Moon Healers Project. Within your notebook you can record the New Moon poems, your dreams throughout the month, your work with the plant allies, and of course, your oracular insight. You can share your insights by commenting on the posts and even better, by using the hashtag #NewMoonHealersProject on instagram to connect with others (and letting me share some emoji feels in your comment section).
I’ve posted the New Moons of 2017 below as a quick guide for the upcoming project dates. A great way to help you stay connected to the New Moon Healers Project Moon-to-Moon is to set-up a notification in your calendar to pop-up and say “Hey, it’s time to get lunar!” You can also grab the badge below to display on your site or instagram feed to let folks that you're a healer of the New Moon persuasion.
The New Moons of 2017
Calculated for Pacific Standard Time
January 27 | New Moon in Aquarius
February 26 | New Moon in Pisces
March 27 | New Moon in Aries
April 26 | New Moon in Taurus
May 25 | New Moon in Gemini
June 23 | New Moon in Cancer
July 23 | New Moon in Leo
August 21 | Solar Eclipse in Leo
September 19 | New Moon in Virgo
October 19 | New Moon in Libra
November 18 | New Moon in Scorpio
December 17 | New Moon in Sagittarius
January 16, 2018 | New Moon in Capricorn
I look forward to the next lunar year of New Moon celebrations with each of you as we all re-member and learn anew our power as healers. For that is when we are most powerful and most dangerous - when we know without a doubt that we are capable of the most profound healing as individuals and as a community.
